Gus Malzahn To Vanderbilt: A Handy Timeline

The Gus Malzahn-to-Vanderbilt deal is far from sewn up, and news outlets everywhere are backtracking from a thousand stories all spawned by one tiny blog blurb on the Washington Post's website. The Commodores could be back to square one by this afternoon, or basking in the reflected glory of a new coach who may very well alight in Nashville with a shiny new title ring; until then, let's see if we can't put together a rough timeline of events and get all our stories straight:

Thanksgiving weekend: Robbie Caldwell, The Interim Head Coach Who Wasn't, steps down after one season as Bobby Johnson's replacement at VU.

Thursday, Dec. 9: Incidentally, Malzahn wins the 2010 Frank Broyles Award, bestowed upon the nation's best assistant coach.

Friday: Malzahn is said to be considering a $3 million offer from the Commodores.

Sunday, early: A small corner of the Washington Post's Terrapins Insider blog pipes up with the news that Maryland OC James Franklin has been passed over for the Vanderbilt job in favor of Malzahn, who has accepted the position.

Sunday, late: AL.com reports that Malzahn is considering the offer, but that he has neither accepted nor denied the opportunity, and that a decision is expected by early Monday.

Monday, early: The Post stands by its story, reporting that the announcement of Malzahn's hiring is imminent.

Monday, early: The Tennessean reports that Vanderbilt has denied they've hired Malzahn ... sort of:

Vanderbilt denied a report Sunday that it had hired Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn as its next head football coach.

But director of communications Rod Williamson said Vanderbilt hopes the report would be accurate very soon.

And right now, that's where we're at, all waiting on somebody who's actually in a position to know for sure to report the deal is done or through. In the meantime, for more discussion of this story, visit SB Nation's Anchor of Gold.